Musical annunciator



L. W. GARNETT MUSICAL ANNUNCIATOR Jam 6, 4,1942.

Filed Dec. 9, 1939 Patented Jan. l6, 1942 UNITED STATES V:PMIEZNT vOFFICE 2,269,098- i y MUSICAL vANNUNCIATOR VLeslie'W. Garnett, Hopkinsville, Ky. Application December 9, 1939, Serial No; 398,463 'i (o1. liv-fi) i \limb` or trunki'of a tree.'v This elongated b'ody 6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in signaling devices `and pertains particularly Lto a novel andimproved annunciator designed primarily fo-r use upon doors of residences or'other structures for announcing visitors.

The primary object of the. present invention is to provide a novel annunciator inthe form of a door knocker or gong which is designed to simulate a woodpecker or similari-type of bird perched. upona body representing a portion 'of a tree limb and mounted for movement relative to such body whereby, upon. suchv movement, thebill of the bird will contact asound-producing element lto produce 'a musical note.

Another object of the invention is to provide an annunciator which comprises a musical note sounding bar and a pivotally supported bird representing a woodpecker with means connected with said bird whereby it may be oscillated in suchv a manner as to strike the bill of the bird against the bar and thereby produce `a musical note.

vA still further object of the invention is to provide in a device of the ch'aracterstated a novel means. for effecting the oscillation ofthe striker which simulates a bird, whereby with eachoscillation of the bird a musical note will be sounded. f

The invention will be .best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the 'accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with 4the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes ormodications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claim-s.

In the drawing:4 Figure 1 isa vertical sectional view through the device embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 isa section on the line 2 2 of vFigure 1v. Figure 3 is a vertical sectionalview through the lower portionv of the modifiedV form gof the device.

Referring now more particularly lto the drawing, the numeral I designates a portion of a structure, such as a panel of a door or the like, upon which the annunciator embodying the present invention may be mounted and the numeral 2 generally designates the body of the annunciator which is in the form of an elongated member which is exteriorly finished to simulate va may be securedA by screws 3 or in any other suitable manner to the supporting panel I'and the body 2 is chambered,'as indicated at 4, this chamber opening preferably throughA the back jof the body and 'throu'gh the upper end thereof rwardly Aand iout of the upper end of the body ysoft or yielding tip i in thejsame manner that the sound waves travel through a horn. y

Securedto the bodyiat the lower end' of the tone carrying chamber k4 and preferably in a recess 5` formed in the rear side of the body, is the lower end of a bracket arrn 6, the upper end offwhichjis bent to ,provide the angularly directed head 1 which is provided with a threaded opening to receive a screw Il,Y and this screw extends through an aperture in one end of a tone bar 9, the bar being held in position by the head I0 of the screw 8, as illustrated. The bracket supports the tone bar in upright position within thechamber 4 and in close proximity to the forward wall'of the chamber and through this forward wall adjacent the upper' end of the chamber there is formed a holeA II, for the purpose hereinafter` stated.

. The bar 9 is formed of steel or other suitable metal such as is employed in the making of chime gongs and the hole I I constitutes a vstriker' hole through which the bill of the bird, here-` inafter described, is made to pass to contact the gongu In Athe face of the body 2 below the striker hole I I a recess I2y is formed in which is disposed the horizontal pivot pin I3. Extending into the recessy I2 and supported upon the pin `for rocking movement in a vertical plane is the The billl leg I4 of the bird-simulating body I5. IE of this body is provided with a striker point or tip I1, which is preferably in the form ofv a raw hide or similar resilient member removably attached to the bill I6 and arranged, when the body I5 is oscillated,to pass through the striker hole II and contact ythe gong bar 9.

If a greater volume of sound is desired the I'I may be replaced by a metal tip. This vwould give .a sharper, louder sound in striking .thebar 9 than would be produced-by the softer raw hide tip I 7. An additional means, hereinafter particularly described, is provided whereby thesound produced inthe secured a bracket 22 which carries a horizontal pivot 23 on which is oscillatably mounted the rocker arm 24. One end of this arm extends through the aperture 2| and is pivotally connected at the lower end to the bar I9, as indicated at 25, while the outer end of the rocker arm carries the chain-supported ring 26.

The rocker arm oscillates vertically as will be readily apparent and it will be seen that upon pulling down on the outer end of this arm the rod I9 will be shifted upwardly and since the upper end of this rod is attached to the leg I4 between the pivot I3 and the body I5, the body will be raised or swung upwardly and inwardly so that the point of the bill I6 will pass through the striker hole I I and hit the tone bar 9.

Where the present musical striker is` mounted upon a door panel of ordinary weight, the tone of the bar 9 will be transmitted through thepanel to the interior of the building but where such panel may be of unusually heavy construction or where it may be desired to have the tone carried into the building with greater volume or clarity, the panel or supporting body I may be provided at the upper end of the striker body 2 with an Aopening 21 covered upon the inner side of the panel by a suitable grill 21', While upon the outer side of the panel there is secured over the open upper end of the body 2, the upwardly and inwardly curving hollow cap 28 which guides or .carries the sound produced by the tone bar 9 in through the opening 21 to the interior of the building. This cap may be secured in place by the upper one of the screws 3 which holds the striker device in position.

It will be understood, of course, that the sound chamber 4 may be made in different sizes so that the volume of tone produced in striking the bar 9 may be controlled or varied and While the body 2 may be formed of any suitable material, it is preferred that it be made of metal finished upon its outer side, as previously stated, to resemble the surface of a tree limb or trunk.

Figure 3 illustrates a mechanism by which electric current may be employed for causing the striker body I5 to oscillate and while only the lower portion of the modied form of the mechanism is illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the same form of striker is coupled with the actuating rod as is shown in Figure 1 connected to |the actuating rod I9. n this modied form of the invention the tree limb or trunk simulating body forming the gong housing, is indicated by the numeral 29, the body being formed to provide the chamber 3G in which the gong 3l is mounted. The lower part of the body 29 forms a separate housing 32 in which 'is enclosed a small electric motor 33 having upon the end of the armature shaft 34 a gear pinion 35. Supported in the housing 32 upon a suitable horizontal stub shaft 36 -attached at one end to one side Wall of the housing, is a chamber 4 by the musical bar may be morev gear 31 which carries a crank pin 38. The numeral 39 designates the actuating rod which couples the gear 31 with the leg of the striker body which is in the form of the bird such as is shown in Figure 1 but only the lower end of which is illustrated in connection with the present modified form of the invention, and this rod 39 is divided into the upper and lower sections 40 and 4I which are coupled together by the threaded turnbuckle sleeve 42. By means of this turnbuckle, the effective length of the rod may be varied so as to increase or decrease the position of oscillation of the striker bird with which the actuating rod 39 is connected.

The lower part of the motor housing 32 supports a push button rod 43 for reciprocatory movement, a spring of `any suitable type, such as the spring 44, being connected with this rod to normally urge the same to move outwardly. At the inner en-d of the rod a switch unit is mounted, which is indicated generally by the numeral 45, and which is here shown as comprising a fixed terminal 46 and a shiftable terminal 41, the rod 43 being disposed adjacent the latter terminal so that when the rod is forced inwardly this shiftable terminal will be moved into electrical engagement with the fixed terminal 46. When this is done an electric circuit is closed through the current-conducting wires 48 so as to introduce current into the motor 33 with which the wires are joined, to cause the operation of the motor. This will result in the rapid rotation of the gear 31 and the rapid oscillation of the striker element which is connected with the actuating rod 39 and thus produce a rapidly reproduced series of notes through the striking of the tone bar or gong 3l by the bill of the striker bird.

From the foregoing it will be readily -apparent that the present chime knocker constitutes a novel annunciator operated in a novel manner, such an annunciator being attractive in appearance so that it provides an attractive ornament fora door or house front.

It will be understood that in the form of the invention shown in Figure 1 where the body I5 is actuated manually, this body will move outwardly or return to retracted position when the actuating lever 24 is released, by its own weight. In the form of the invention shown in Figure 3, however, the striking bar is actuated by the electric motor and in this case may stop in any position with respect to the sounding bar 3|. The latter form of the inventiony operates to sound the bar at a high speed, whereas in the manually operated form of the invention, the striking of the bar would be at slower or less frequent intervals.

I claim:

1. An annunciator device of the character stated, comprising a supporting body'formed to provide a sound chamber and having a wall aperture, a sound producing bar supported in said chamber and extending across said aperture, a striker body having a portion forming a supporting leg pivotally secured to the first body and having an elongated striking element disposed in a position to pass through said aperture for contact with said bar upon oscillation of the striker body in one direction on the pivot for the supporting leg, a reciprocable member having an end pivotally attached to said supporting leg, and means carried by the first body and operatively connected with said reciprocable member to eiect rectilinear movement of the reciprocable member and oscillation of the striker body for the projection of the striking element through the aperture into contact with the bar.

2. An annunciator of the character described, comprising an elongated body simulating a limb or trunk of a tree and having a chamber and a Wall provided with an aperture opening into the chamber, a musical note producing body supported in the chamber across said aperture, a striker body simulating a bird having a supporting leg, means pivotally connecting said leg with the rst body for oscillation of the striker body in the longitudinal plane of the said first body, said bird simulating striker body having a bill disposed for extension through the wall aperture for contact with said musical note producing body, and means connected with the leg of the bird simulating body for facilitating the oscillation of the latter for the projection of the bill through the aperture into contact with the note the first body for oscillation in a vertical plane and having a bill arranged to pass through said aperture when the striker body is oscillated in lng means comprising a bar pivotally supported for oscillation on an axis parallel with the axis of oscillation of the striker body and havinga pivotal connection at one end with said rod and having means at its other end facilitating its` lend of the body, a chime bar supported Within one direction for contact with said element, a y

vertically reciprocable actuating rod connected at one end with the striker body and extending downwardly into the first mentioned body, and electromagnetic means carried by the first mentioned body and operatively coupled with the other end of said rod for effecting reciprocation of the rod and vertical oscillation of the striker body.

4. In a musical note producing annunciator including a body, an element for producing a sound when struck, supported by the body, a striker body simulating a bird pivotally supported for oscillation relative to element and having a bill for striking the element when the striker body is oscillated in one direction, a reciprocable actuating rod connected at one end with the striker body and means. operatively coupled with the other end of saidA rod for effecting reciprocation of the rod `and oscillation of the striker body, said rod actuatsaid chamber, the body having an aperture throughthe wall thereof directed toward said chime bar, a striker body simulating a bird having a supporting leg, means pivotally connecting said leg with the first body for the support of the bird at the front of the first body for osciln lation in a vertical plane, said bird body having a bill arranged to pass through said opening and contact the chime bar, an actuating rod partially enclosed Within the rst body and pivotally attached at one end to the said leg of the bird body and extending downwardly therefrom, and means supported by the lower part of the rst body and coupled With said bar for effecting a rectilinear movement-of the bar and the oscillation of the striker bird body.

6. A chime annunciator of the character described, comprising an elongated body exteriorly nished to represent a tree limb or trunk, the body being hollow throughout a portion of its length to form a chamber opening through an end of the body, a chime bar supported within said chamber, the body having an aperture through the Wall thereof directed toward said chime bar, a striker body simulating a bird having a supporting leg, means pivotally connecting said leg with the rst body for oscillation in a vertical plane, said bird body having a bill arranged to pass through said opening and contact the' chime bar, an actuating rod partially yenclosed within the firstbody and pivotally at- 4tached at one' end to the said leg of the bird said body and extending downwardly therefrom, and means ysupported by the lower part of the first body and coupled with said bar for effecting a rectilinear movement of the bar and the oscillation of the striker bird body, said bill 'having the tip portion removable for substitution by a corresponding tip portion of different material.'

LESLIE W. GARNETT. 

